


Evidence of Distress

by Joann



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha Pidge | Katie Holt, Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Hunk (Voltron), M/M, Omega Lance (Voltron), Panic Attacks, heat sickness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 08:10:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12406500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joann/pseuds/Joann
Summary: Lance had been on suppressants during his training at the Garrison. It made it easier when his secondary gender didn't get in his way and all the stupid biological stuff that came with it, so he had tried to make a substitute with Altean Technology, even though he doesn't necessarily understand chemistry or how to actually read Altean. His biology, of course, goes screwy right as a new Galra monster is attacking the Castle. Just great.





	Evidence of Distress

Pain rippled through his body and Lance was torn from his sleep. He felt like he was engulfed in fire. When his mind able to focus on something besides the pain and all he could think was, _oh shit. I’m in heat._ He knew that this wasn’t an ordinary heat. He was horny as all hell, but it hurt so much worse than any other heat he had been through before. This was heat sickness from being on suppressants for too long.

He hadn’t meant to be on them for this long, but he had finally gotten into the Garrison. He had planned on stopping after boot camp, but then he had been in pilot training. He was going to stop after that, but then he was able to be bumped up into fighter pilot instead of cargo. It just kept adding on time and then Voltron had happened. It had been able to make a version of suppressants with the Altean tech, but he most have missed a dose or created it wrong.

He really should have asked Coran or Allura for help, but he had been embarrassed and no one really actually knew he was an omega. It want because he was ashamed or anything. He knew those stereotypes and old trains of thought were wrong about Omegas, but it was just so much easier not having to worry about dealing with those who were sexist. The Garrison had a non-discriminatory policy, but if school had taught him anything was bullies and jerks knew how to keep from getting caught.

He definitely regretted it now. His whole body hurt and when the waves of pain lulled for short periods his whole body ached. He was thankful that the team was back at the fortress instead of on a mission, he would have been more thankful if he wasn’t in pain. Then the alarms went off.

*****

Shiro was the first paladin to arrive at the helm of the flying castle. He was disappointed to find it wasn’t one of Allura’s drills. His inner alpha growled at the creature in front of their ship.

“The Galra have sent some sort of sentient space monster after us.” Coran’s said. “I don’t know how they keep finding us.” If the Alteans had scent glands like humans, Shiro was sure he would smell the anxiousness in waves off of Coran.

Keith joined them and Pidge as well as Hunk soon followed. Shiro started giving out orders. “We need to get out there and form Voltron to take this thing down. Where is Lance?”

Hunk and pidge shrugged. Keith muttered, “Probably still asleep.”

Shiro frowned. “I’ll grab him on the way to my Lion. You guys get out there and try to stall.” Keith, Pidge and Hunk nodded their assentation and they headed out.

Shiro expected to come across Lance as he headed towards his quarters; he had a tendency to run a few ticks behind everyone else. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today. He made it to Lance’s room and banged on the door. “Lance! We’re under attack.”

The door didn’t open. Shiro banged louder. “Lance! You need to get up now!” Still there was no answer.

He finally opened the door. Overwhelming omega scents hit him, both Omega in distress and omega in heat. His nostrils flared and his body tensed. Lance was on the floor a few feet away from his bed, curled up in a fetal position. It took all of Shiro’s control to step out of the room and close the door. He didn’t think Lance even noticed his temporary entrance. He punched the wall and fought to control his breathing.

Once he was back in control he radioed the team. “Keith, how is it going? Can just the lions take this guy on?”

Keith’s wary voice responded. “No, he’s too strong. We need Voltron.”

Allura chimed in, “What’s going on? Why aren’t you and Lance out there?”

“It’s going to be hard to explain. For now we can’t form Voltron and Lance’s room need to be locked.” Shiro kept his voice steady. It went against all his instincts to not go to the Omega, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself with all those pheromones. No alpha could.

“Why?” Pidge asked.

“What’s going on with Lance?” Hunk asked.

“More immediately important, what should we do about the Galra monster?” Keith asked.

“Get the Lion’s back into the castle. Allura, can you get us away from him at least for a while?” Shiro heard the worry in his team’s voices. Even Keith, who was trying to prioritize the monster, had a slight tremble in his voice.

“I can, but we will have to face him soon. How long do you need?” Allura said.

Shiro sighed as he saw the door control panel go red with a word in Altean which he had learned meant locked. “That will depend on what we can do for Lance.”

*****

“Lance is an omega?” Keith’s voice was shrill and his eyes wide. They had all gathered in the common room closest to Lance’s room.

“That isn’t possible,” Hunk said. “I’ve known him since we both started at the Garrison and his scent has always been of a beta.”

Pidge added, “If he had been on suppressants they would have worn off within the first week or two of being in space. It’s been months!”

“I think I have an explanation.” Coran said from his seat at one of the control panels. “It seems Lance was making some medicine with our medical systems. From what I have been learning about your human biology it could be a hormone suppressant. Unfortunately Lance really doesn’t understand Altean. According to this he changed an immunization to try and fight his hormones… Let’s just say it’s something which shouldn’t be what he wanted it to be.” Coran made a face. Shiro also grimaced.

Keith huffed. “Of course Lance does something this stupid.”

“Shiro, you said he was in great pain and I previously had been somewhat explained that omegas need an alpha when they are in heat. Couldn’t one of you three help him?” Allura gestured to Pidge, Keith and Shiro.

Pidge adjusted her glasses and spoke. “Unfortunately normal heats make it hard for an Alpha to control themselves. Its instinct for an alpha to mate, mark, and comfort. If Lance is in as much distress as Shiro described whoever went in there could go feral. That means we would be out of commission for at least a week and Lance would be forced into a permanent relationship with whoever it was. Forced bonding is one of the cruelest things someone can do to an omega.” Shiro and Keith grimaced, but nodded in agreement.

“It used to be an acceptable thing to treat omegas as property. As our culture has matured we’ve learned better… for the most part.” Shiro sighed. “You might need to lock the three of us up and then move Lance to one of the healing pods. That will be his best chance.”

Allura nodded. “Head to your rooms and we’ll lock you inside. Will you be able to help, Hunk, or do you need to be locked up too?”

“I’m a beta. None of those uncontrollable instincts here.” Hunk winced when he saw Keith, Shiro and Pidge's grimace. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it as anything.”

“We know.” Pidge said.

Shiro stood and said, “We’ll head to our rooms. Take care of him.” Keith and Pidge followed suit.

“We will.” Allura said.

*****

Allura locked the rooms as soon as soon as the alpha paladins were in their rooms and quickly unlocked Lance’s room. Hunk and Coran were waiting outside the door and rushed in to get Lance. Hunk couldn’t smell the pheromones as well as the alphas, but even he was put on edge by the obvious distress that was wafting through the room. Lance seemed to have moved a couple feet closer to the doors, then what Shiro had described.

The omega looked up at them weekly and slurred out. “I can help; just get me to my Lion.”

“We okay now, buddy. Let’s just take care of you.” Hunk scooped up he best friend and Coran lead them to the infirmary.

Allura was already there and prepping one of the pods. She gave Lance a worried look before turning back to the pod and giving it the command to open. “I’ve set it to scan his body and correct his hormone balance from what he treated himself with. I don’t think it will help with his normal biological functions, but it will take care of most of the pain.”

Coran helped Hunk positon him inside the pod. They stepped back as the door slid shut. Lank let out a yelp, which Hunk and the Alteans couldn’t hear through the thick glass.

“He’s going to be okay. Right, He’s going to be okay?” Hunk pressed his hand against the glass, and gave Allura a nervous, if not panicked look.

“We’ll do our best to take care of him.” Allura sighed as she put in the final instructions for the pod. “I suppose we can release our alpha paladins now.”

“Uhh you might vent the air first, if you can.” Coran and Allura gave Hunk a questioning look. “He left a trail of pheromones from his room. It won’t be pretty if they catch the scent.”

*****

Everyone sat on the floor or stood near Lance’s pod, except for Pidge. She was taking apart one of the pods not too far from the group. She had gotten permission from Coran and tinkering helped her relax.  The alphas wouldn’t be able to be around when Lance did finally emerged, in case he was still in heat, but they all were on edge from one of their team being hurt. The proximity helped.

Pidge looked over at who was sitting on the ground across from Lance. Usually Hunk or Lance would break the tension with a dumb joke or ridicules vibrato. “He’s going to be fine.” She said. “He’ll wake up and instantly start hitting on Allura again and chasing pretty alien girls.”

Pidge felt lighter as Hunk gave her a snort of a laugh.

“But he’s a male omega. Why would he even be off hitting on girls?” Keith wondered, leaning against one of the far pods.

“Do male omegas not feel attraction to girls?” Allura asked, sitting near Coran at the edge of the group.

“Male omegas are like anyone else. They can feel attraction to anyone.” Shiro said from his position right next to Keith’s pod. “Their biology tends to need a male alpha to appease it though.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “I’ve never heard of a male omega being with anyone besides another male.”

“I’ve never seen Lance hit on a male.” Hunk said.

Pidge looked up from her work and stared at Lance. His eyes were closed and he looked like a sleeping beauty in the pod. He would need to answer so many questions when he got out of there.

By the time Lance was able to come out, Pidge had disassembled and reassembled the pod. Shiro had started doing various exercises: jumping jacks, pushups, sit ups, etc. and nearly gotten in a several hour work out. Keith had left and come back easily half a dozen times. Allura had to leave and teleport the ship away from the monster that Zarkon had sent after them twice. Coran had also left both times to aid her. Hunk didn’t move; he just watched Lance.

A minor alarm went off, and everyone gathered around. “You alphas should return to your quarters then I’ll release Lance from the capsule.” Allura gave the alphas an expectant look.

Shiro, Keith and Pidge reluctantly returned to their rooms. Pidge gave one last supportive smile to Hunk. He gave her half of one back.

*****

 Lance came back to consciousness slowly. Hunk seemed to be calling out to him from a distant place. Eventually he was treated to the fuzzy vision of Hunk coaxing him into drinking some water. Muffled sounds seemed to be just out of ear shot. Lance tried to focus and eventually heard, “… and I brought some milk too from our wonderful cow, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be up to it.”

“Thanks…” His voice sounded hoarse to even his own ears. His eyes slowly were able to focus on more then what was right in front of him. He recognized he was in his room, but it had been cleaned. A blush spread across his cheeks at the thought of anyone having to take care of the mess he created when in heat. He then noticed Coran and Allura standing in the corner. “You guys looked more worried and perplexed than usual.”

His words visibly relax the Altean pair. Allura sighed and took a step forward. “We were very worried about you.”

“It was incredibly stupid to mess with your biology using technology you don’t understand.” Coran crossed his arms and frowned at Lance. Honestly it looked more like a pout, but Lance had learned that was his worried upset face.

“We had to put you in one of the healing pods. You were in it for a day and a half.” Hunk wasn’t looking Lance in the eye. Red flags went off in his brain. Last time he had been on the pods it had removed the suppressants form his blood stream. They might know he was an omega, and Hunk would have felt betrayed because Lance didn’t tell him.

“Hunk, I…” Hunk finally looks him in the eye. “Wait, why was I in the healing pods?” Anything to avoid that conversation for as long as possible.

“You don’t remember?” Allura asked. Lance shook his head.

“I figure Coran’s comment about messing with your biology would make it obvious.” Hunk agitation with Lance was growing.

Lance knew he should apologize to his best friend or something, but panic was setting in. “What happened, exactly?”

Allura responded, “We were attacked by another Galra monster and when you didn’t respond to the alarms Shiro went to fetch you.” Lance could feel the panic welling up inside him. “You had gone into, what Shiro called, heat? We weren’t able to fight the monster so…”

Lance was completely zoned out now. The white noise that filled his ears was comparable to the noise one hears after being too close to an explosion. Shiro had found him in heat. He wasn’t mated, at least he felt like he would have noticed if he was now mated so Shiro didn’t think he smelled good. Shiro didn’t feel attracted to Lance. Shiro was pack alpha and he didn’t want Lance. Shiro was going to remove an obviously weak link from the pack. They would find someone exponentially better to pilot the blue lion and Keith would be so happy to see Lance go. That was probably why Hunk had trouble meeting his gaze, he agreed with them. Lance couldn’t breathe.

“LANCE! Lance, buddy! Focus on me!” Hunk’s voice sounded a million miles away. Lance tried to look for him and found him right in front of his own face. “Breathe with me.”

Lance fought to follow Hunk’s directions. It felt like he was in one of the Lion’s barriers, but it only encompassed him. Lance knew he was going through some sort of heat sickness and he obviously had some sort of hormonal or chemical imbalance going on. He hadn’t ever had a panic attack before, but he had had a friend who had gone through them. He had helped them breathe threw it just like Hunk was helping him now. As Lance slowly came down from the panic attack he wondered if this would be a regular occurrence now.

His thoughts started to slip towards how much of a burden he would become if he would need constant help, but Hunk’s voice cut in. “That’s it. You are doing great. Keep breathing and stay with me.”

Lance focused on Hunk. The beta had his hands on Lance’s face and shoulder. His face had a worried expression. He kept repeating a simple breathing pattern of in and out, in and out. Lance followed it to the best of his abilities. Eventually he became aware of the room again and of Coran and Allura standing behind Hunk, looking worried and slightly panicked.

“Sorry to freak everyone out.” Lance gave a humorless laugh. “Probably again, right after the heat sickness.”

Hunk was absently nodding. “So you do think it became heat sickness? I wasn’t sure. I’ve never had and omega friends that I was around when they went through heats so I had nothing to compare it to.”

“Oh yeah and I might need some sort of bio scan to check my hormone levels. I’ve never had panic attacks before and something is very wrong.” Lance collapsed back on his bed.

“You were just in the healing pods. It should have fixed all biological processes.” Coran said.

Hunk sighed and ran his hand across his face. “We completely spaced for the omega hormonal part of it.” Coran gave him a confused look. “Just like male and females have different hormone levels omegas, alpha and betas have different hormone levels. Your computers would have no records of a healthy human male omega, just like it had no knowledge of humans when we first got here.”

Hunk gave Lance a look in-between pity and a grimace. “You’ll just have to rebalance the old fashion way.”

Lance groaned and Allura gave them a questioning look. “Which is?”

“Complete reboot. No suppressants or anything that messes with his chemistry for at least a month.” Lance sighed. It wasn’t the first time he had been completely off suppressants, but it was never pleasant and not something you wanted to do with three unmated alphas nearby.

*****

Lance was quarantined in his room for a couple days after waking up. Hunk had noticed a strange heat like smell coming from Lance. Lance had explained that it was due to the heat sickness. His body was trying to protect itself from going through it again by producing pheromones to attract a mate similarly to when an omega goes through an actual heat, but without the physical detriments that an actual heat brings. Who knew that high school health class would teach him anything useful?

Lance didn’t think the quarantine was necessary. Shiro obviously didn’t want him and he strongly doubted that Keith did. Lance had never heard of an alpha being attracted to opposition. Alphas liked omegas that were submissive. Shiro, Keith and Pidge probably saw him as a horrible example of an omega.

He eventually realized that part of Hunk’s mandated quarantine was to force him to have some bed rest. Although Lance only really figured it because every time Hunk came in with food he made Lance get in bed. Hunk was such a mother hen.

Lance’s first excursion out was quite the event. Hunk followed him around everywhere trying to baby him and talk him into maybe resting another day. Keith was nowhere to be seen, surprise surprise. Allura and Coran tried to be around, but it seemed the monster that had attacked them when his heat had started was still following them and they had to be in and out of the control room piloting the ship. When they were around they treated Lance with kid gloves and it was grating o his nerves. Yeah he was an omega, but he wasn’t some delicate flower like some omega in an old Disney movie. Pidge was the only one to treat Lance the same. It seemed her older brother was a male omega.

Shiro was a whole other story. Lance had wondered into the training room to at least do a light workout, much to Hunk’s chagrin. “Just some light stretching and then back to your room to stretch.”

Lance countered. “Stretching, then a 10 minute run and 30 minutes of hand to hand.”

Hunk frowned and crossed his arm. “Stretching and a 5 minute walk.”

“We’ve been walking around the castle for more than 20 minutes!” Lance said, incredulously.

“Which is why you don’t need a longer work out.” Hunk said, very matter of fact, as the pair walked through the doorway into the training room. Shiro was already there destroying robot after robot. He stopped the program when he noticed them.

“Lance!” Lance felt himself shrink in the presence of the alpha. The alpha that didn’t want him; that found him disgusting and didn’t make a move on him even with the powerful pheromones form his heat. “It’s good to see you up and about.”

Shiro’s smile seemed to cut into Lance even more. It seemed so genuine. Shiro was genuinely happy he wasn’t producing anymore heat pheromones. Lance must have smelled revolting.

“Lance?” Shiro’s face twisted into concern and he came closer. Everything started to fade out. Lance’s mind became over run with thoughts about how horrible an omega he was, how horrible he must smell to the alphas around him, how he must have damaged himself irreparably when messing with the Altean medical units to make suppressants.

Lance was drawn back to reality by Hunk again. His gentle voice was soothing, even while incomprehensible. As he came back to his senses he realized he was back in his room, this time with Shiro and Hunk.

“You are doing awesome, Lance. Stay focused on me. Whatever is going through your head may be scary now, but we can face it together.” Hunk was and Lance were sitting on the ground next to his bed and Shiro was kneeling in front of him.

Shiro gave him a smile that was sure to be supportive, but it felt like a stab to Lance. “How did I get here?”

“Shiro and I brought you back to your room. Safe space and familiar smells, etc.” Hunk looked a bit pained. He turned to Shiro, “Can you step out for a moment?”

“What?” Shiro looked confused and a bit insulted. “I may be an alpha, but I’m in full control.”

“That’s not it, just can you leave for a bit? You can stay nearby or whatever your alpha instincts once, but I have a couple questions for Lance that I don’t think he’ll be able to answer with you in the room.” Hunk voice was strained, but he was trying to be diplomatic. Lance thought he knew where Hunk was going with this and felt a knot swell in his stomach.

Shiro looked confused and hurt, but he got up and headed out the door. Right before leaving he turned around and said, “You know I would never do anything to hurt Lance, right?” He looked to Lance, “You know I wouldn’t hurt you, right? I’m not a slave to my biology.”

Lance felt himself nod; he couldn’t help but feel butterflies fill his stomach with. Shiro was looking at him with such yearning. He rationally knew it was yearning for approval and understanding, but all his omega side could think _he’s looking at me with want!!_

Hunk sighed as the door shut behind Shiro. “Lance… Is Shiro the trigger to your panic attacks?” He said it gently, but it still felt like a punch to the gut.

Lance felt that knot grow again. “I… I don’t mean to…” It felt like his words hardly worked when it mattered. It also felt like a betrayal to Shiro. The alpha was their pack alpha. He protected them and tried so hard for them. He should be one of the people that Lance trusted most, not someone who inspired anxiety.

Hunk sat patiently next to him with an unreadable expression. “He rejected me when I was in heat.” Lance sounded broken to his own ears. It felt like something broke inside him and he started crying. Hunk held him and let him sob into his shirt.

*****

Shiro paced back and forth in front of Lance’s door. The alpha in him was angry. He was angry at several people for several reasons. He was angry at Hunk for kicking him out of the room when one of his pack was in pain. He was angry at Lance for putting himself into such a precarious position health wise and for hiding his secondary gender for so long. He was angry at Keith for not facing it and angry at Pidge for being so understanding. He was angry at Allura and Coran for not being able to fix Lance completely.

Mostly he was angry at himself. He wanted Lance so badly. In his head he had been calling Lance his omega since finding him in heat. He wanted the omega so badly. He had smelled so intoxicating. Shiro had hoped that when Lance wasn’t in heat that he would regain some more control over his senses, but then Lance had walking into the training room. Even while not in heat Lance smelled divine. Not as overpowering, but Shiro had been able to smell him before he had seen him.

His omega was in pain and he could do nothing. Hunk had even evicted him from the room, because of… Shiro wasn’t exactly sure why. Sure any omegas might be embarrassed about talking about biological things in front of an alpha, but the paladins had all become as close as a family over the time they had spent as team Voltron. Those had been Lance’s own words; Shiro could still envision the moment.

_Lance and Keith were arguing about something, again. Shiro didn’t bother to try and figure it out. It was almost like the enjoyed arguing with each other. “Come on, guys. We are supposed to be representing Voltron Here. We need to finish this diplomatic mission on a good note with this planet’s leaders. Focus.”_

_Keith and Lance both looked thoroughly abashed. “You know we don’t mean it.” Lance said. “We may fight a lot, but we are a family. Team Voltron is our space family and we would never do anything to risk it!” Keith nodded along and Lance gave Shiro his patented smoldering grin._

_Shiro chuckled, “At least tone down the brotherly arguing till we get back to the castle.” Keith rolled his eyes giving Shiro a glare._

_“Whatever you say, dad.” Lance said with a shit eating grin. Keith snickered._

_Shiro put his hand on his chest and made of face of mock insulted. “You both are so grounded when we get back to the castle.”_

Shiro stopped pacing and stood looking at the door. He wanted to be there for Lance, for his omega, but just like he told Lance and Hunk he wasn’t a slave to his biology. He waited outside the door to till he could get the all clear form Hunk.

*****

Keith knew he would need to face Lance eventually. He was a paladin of Voltron and they all worked together to save the universe so it was going to happen sooner rather than later, but he really wanted to put it off. Lance was already astoundingly hot as a beta. The way he stood up to Keith was amazing, not even the other alphas at the garrison typically did that; for an omega to do that with insanely sexy. Keith could feel all sanity leave his head at the thought of Lance arguing with him while smelling like the scent he had caught a small whiff of after they had taken him back to his room after the healing pod.

He mostly kept to his room and roamed one of the corner spires. All the spires were left unused due to their distance from the hangers and control room. It was perfect to wander around in and think. Although currently his thoughts just focused on Lance, which led to his pants being way too tight. He didn’t know what would happen when he got more than just a hint of Lance’s smell. Keith didn’t think he could trust himself around the omega, worse still he didn’t want to have to control himself.

Of course, while trying to decipher how strong his self-control was, the alarms went off. He raced down the stairs and headed to the control. He braced himself for whatever he came in contact with. 

*****

Shiro was the first one to make it to the control room, as per usual. “Is it the monster again?”

Coran was helping Allura to one of the paladin chairs as Coran nodded, “And Allura can’t do another jump right now. She needs some time to rest and get recharged. You’ll have to fight it off till she can feel back up to it.” Pidge and Keith had joined them while Coran was talking.

“Lance was up and walking around today.” Pidge said. “We can now form Voltron and finally be rid of this monster.” She looked at Shiro hopefully. Coran also looked to him, although much more uncertain.

Shiro shook his head. His omega wasn’t ready to fight yet. “I don’t think he’s quite up to it. He just had another panic attack.”

“But I’m good to go now.” Lance walked into the control room with his signature flair. It was undermined by redness in his eyes and a frowning Hunk following him. The sweet smell of his omega sent made Shiro a bit lit headed, yet he wanted to go up to Lance and smell it directly from the source. He forced himself to refocus on the task at hand.

“It couldn’t hurt to have a bit more time get back to your old self.” Hunk tried to reason.

“We need to deal with the monster. We can finally form Voltron and stop this brute from following us.” Lance said, crossing his arms. “I can handle this.”

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Shiro shook his head and stepped closer to Lance, closer to his amazing smell. “You just got through healing. You need to work your way back into this. We can deal with this guy for another day.”

“I can do this!” Lance glared at Shiro. Shiro wanted to whine. He didn’t want to make the omega unhappy, but he wanted to protect him.

“Whatever you decide, ya need to make it quick! He’s already attacking the castle and I don’t think our shields will hold much longer.” Coran called out from the controls.

“Stop arguing and let’s go. We need Lance to defeat this guy. We can’t jump, there is no other option.” Keith chimed in. Shiro and Hunk glared at Keith. Lance looked very surprised.

“I agree with Keith and Lance, not to mention we need to move quickly. Democratically that’s 3 for Lance and 2 against. Meet you all out there in the Lions.” Pidge said as she started to head out.

“Well, Allura and Coran haven’t voted!” Hunk said. Keith followed Pidge.

Lance called out behind him as he headed out the door, “No time. Don’t worry, Hunk, I’ve got this.”

Shiro gritted his teeth and headed to his lion. The entire way he couldn’t help but worry. He hoped whatever happened that Lance was right and that he would be able to handle it.

*****

When Lance got into the Blue lion something was different. Not necessarily a bad different, but the Lion seemed more there. He wondered if his suppressants had been somehow blocking his connection with his lion. It was somewhat oppressive though. Lance couldn’t put his finger on it.

It still listened to him. They flew out of their hanger and joined the rest of the Lion’s. Shiro’s voice chimed across their coms, “Converge on me and let’s form Voltron.”

They came together and the fight was on. The monster had done a number on the castle; the force field looked dented to Lance, which probably shouldn’t be possible. Hunk and Lance were usually perfectly in sync, and the team would make short work of the monster. But today was different. Whether it was because Hunk was mad at him or Hunk and Shiro were right and he wasn’t ready, the two legs seemed to ignite their boosters at the wrong times. They went in different direction and it was a miracle Voltron hadn’t been torn apart yet.

“Get your act together, you too.” Keith irritation filtered through the coms. “We aren’t supposed to be doing the splits; we need to move so we don’t get blasted again.”

“Keith…” Shiro started to reprimand.

“Takes a screw to know a screw up.” Lance shot out. Keith was one of the two people that were treating like he wasn’t made of glass. Lance could be his old self to keep him from getting reprimanded due to justly reprimanding him. “Come on, Hunk lets show this idiot how it’s done.”

“You got it, buddy!” Lance could feel Hunk’s smile through the coms. The successfully dodged the next volley of shots that came from the monster.

“How do these monsters even have gun power?” Lance wondered aloud as the dodged another volley.

Shiro huffed. “This Galra magic is getting rather vexing.” Voltron’s shield went up absorbing the next blast.

“Damn, this thing doesn’t need any recharge time.” Pidge gritted out.

“Keith, time for the sword. Let’s end this creature once and for all!” Shiro said. Lance braced for their attack. Voltron lurched forward with a well-placed stab. The group cheered. They moved to pull back, but Voltron didn’t move.

“Umm, Lance, Hunk? I think we’re done?” Pidge said.

“We know.” Hunk huffed out.

“We’re at full throttle.” Lance said. He felt dread swell inside him. What had he done wrong? Was the whole team going to pay for his mistakes?

“I think the sword is stuck.” Keith grits out. “I can’t twist it free.”

Lance was going to get everyone killed. The people he cared about most in this part of the universe. Excluding his family, the people he cared about the most in any universe. They were depending on him, and he failed.

“Hunk, Lance throttle down to half power. When I say go back to full. Pidge, Keith I want you to work to make a rocking motion. When I say, you’ll pull together.” Shiro, the alpha that rejected him, needed him now. What fi this proved he wasn’t good enough. Not only was his scent revolting but this would prove that he was a terrible paladin.

“Lance, you need to power down.” He wasn’t following a direct order from his alpha.

“Lance, buddy, can you hear me?” Hunk called out.

Lance felt like the cockpit was shrinking. The walls of his Lion were concaving in around him. He couldn’t breathe. All noise seemed to be white noise. He had doomed his teammates. He had doomed the universe to Galra rule. Lance needed to fight through this.

“Lance you need to fight through this. You are so strong and an amazing omega.” That voice did not go with those words.

“Keith?” Lance gasped out.

“That’s it beautiful, keep breathing.” It was Keith’s voice; Keith the alpha that Lance always fought with. Keith that acted like Lance was incompetent. “Do you know how amazing you are? It drives me freak’in nuts.”

Lance laughed, which reminded him he needed to breathe. “There we go. Can you bring down the power of your thrusters now? You’ve got all the power here, Lance.”

Strength seemed to surge from nowhere and he followed Keith’s instructions with no problem. “That’s it, just focus on my voice. You are doing amazing. Wait until you hear you hear the signal then rev it back up. You’re doing amazing.” Keith voice was even and calm. He continued to compliment and encourage Lance even while he was just sitting waiting for… he couldn’t remember what the others were doing.

“We can pull out now.” Pidge said.

“Full power.” Shiro’s voice was strained, but Lance felt like he was floating so he didn’t give it much thought. He gave full power to the thrusters and Voltron came free.

“Let’s get back to the Castle.” Shiro instructed. “Can you get there, Lance?”

“Hmm.” Lance felt very sleepy. It felt like it was overpowering him.

“Lance you are doing so well, but we need one more thing from you.” Keith said as Voltron broke apart. Lance nodded, forgetting Keith could see him. “We need to fly back to the hangers inside the Castle.”

Lance let a muffled, “Sure.” His limbs were uncoordinated as he bumped the controls.

“Just relax. I’ve got you.” Keith said as the Red Lion came and grabbed the Blue Lion with its claws. It flew them both back into the Red Lion’s hanger. Lance felt himself slip into unconsciousness, unsure what was going on.

**Author's Note:**

> I do plan on finishing this, I just hit a wall. Lance was suppose to be ship wrecked with Keith and they were going to forced into a bond, but they weren't doing what I told them to do. Also originally the end game was suppose to be Shiro/Keith/Lance, but again they aren't listening to me. It's very frustrating.  
> I'll try again later this week, but I would love some ideas about what should happen next if anyone cares to comment.  
> I would also appreciate any comments about my representation of panic attacks. I think I'm learning towards the heat creating some sort of PTSD stuff with Lance, but I am much more familiar with depression issues then with Panic attacks. I google/researches, but a more informed voice would be welcome.  
> As always please feel free to comment, critique and compliment below! I love to hear from my readers!  
> Feel free to submit any prompts for me below or at my tumblr blog https://minorfandomfanfics.tumblr.com/. Thank you for reading!


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